Shady Encounters (Red and Damon only)

[[red].Raven]

Rei's fear-filled eyes simply stared at Damon as though he was inside-out. Very weakly, Rei moved one leg and used it to push herself a few feet away from Damon; her arms were injured slightly in the process, but she wouldn't worry about it. On shaky legs, Rei struggled to stand and keep her balance. 'I can't stay here... but going back to the Academy isn't an option anymore either...' She stepped- more like stumbled- backward a foot or two until she felt rough bark against her back. Without really thinking much about it, Rei climbed the tree and rested on the first branch she came to. Claw marks marred the bark, but no claws were visible... anymore.

Rei always felt safer up high, but in retrospect, she doubted her new position would do much good. She sat on the branch with her back pressed against the tree, eyes closed and breathing irregular. Her mind wasn't even on Damon anymore; it was focused around fighting against herself.

[Creator]

After a moment, Damon came down from above, hanging upside-down from a higher branch as if magnetized. He stared at her for a moment before dropping down, turning in the air to land on a foot and a knee. "This is rather pointless, don't you agree?" he said with a sigh. Purple mist swirled around his outstretched hand, and a clawed glove formed, which he slammed into the bark and pulled toward him, creating five new claw marks. "Your decision must be made now. Change, or I kill you." As he spoke, he held out his other hand, another clawed glove forming to match the first one.

[[red].Raven]

Rei's eyes slid open slowly as she stared at Damon. The look she gave him seemed to be one last plea of desperation. 'If... I die... there would be no one to control the Shinigami...' "Why?" Was the only weak word she managed before her jaw clenched and eyes squeezed shut. Whimpering, Rei's back arced just as the Mark began to steadily glow a bright crimson. Keeping balance, Rei moved onto her hands and knees. Claws protruded from her fingertips and talons from her toes. Leg muscles and bones shifted into inverted, animal-like hind legs. Her jaw took on a muzzle quality as her skin became a dark ash color. A rat-like tail sprouted from her tail bone simultaneously with a pair of dragon wings from her shoulder blades. Spines emerged along her back and her jaw parted to reveal pointed teeth.

The creature formerly known as Rei was still before its eyes shot open. They were black as ink, and locked onto Damon. When it spoke, it seemed to be more than one person talking at once. "I suppose I should thank you before I kill you."

((*dramatic music*))

[Creator]

Damon grinned, his eyes taking on a devilish twinge as electricity crackled around him. "That's more like it," he said, disappearing into smoke and zooming back down to the ground before solidifying. The claws hissed back into smoke and faded away in the air, his eyes locked onto the new Rei. His fingers twitched lightly and he couldn't hold back a sort of anxious laughter. "Come on then, Mr. Bigshot, let's see what you can do." His body seemed to tense and another pop of purple plasma shot between him and the ground. ((I suppose I should point out that the plasma/lighting has always been dark/light purple, respectively. xD))

[[red].Raven]

((Fear teh purpleys! x3))

Tattoos spread all along the creatures body, and when all was in place, they ignited into a bright white. The beast grinned darkly and pushed from the branch into the air; on a side note, the branch snapped cleanly from the tree. 'Rei' circled the clearing while constantly gaining speed. "You certainly are an interesting one." It's black eyes never left Damon. Very quickly, the demon's course detoured until it disappeared through the trees. Not a moment later, it was re-entering the clearing from the opposite side heading straight for Damon. Midway there, the Shinigami began to spin like a wheel, with the spikes along its back and tail acting as a razor. The rotations were occurring so quickly, the spikes simply looked like one smooth blade.

[Creator]

Damon thrust out a hand, forming a purple slope from the air in front of him to guide the wheel-demon up and over him. He hurled a kunai knife high into the air, hoping it would take some time to come down, and peeked around the side of the ramp. (Which, in itself, was rather jagged and poorly-formed.) He dissolved into a thick purple liquid and slid along the ground in a thin stream, moving around to position himself a fair distance from the ramp.

[[red].Raven]

A screech like growl could be heard just before the demon-death-wheel made contact with the ramp. It wasn't veered off course right away though. For what seemed like several long moments, but was really only a second or so, the 'wheel' began to grind into the slope. Just before the wheel would have been forced upward, 'Rei' stuck out her hind legs and hooked her talons into the slope. The demon pushed up and away, taking to the air once more. It very briefly thought about going after the kunai, but decided against it. Black eyes scanned the clearing and the creature grinned. Infrared vision was a dandy thing. Diving down, the beast flew low, following the line of the small stream like a trail. It raised one clawed hand and.... veered sideways into a tree?

Needless to say, the tree nearly toppled over from the impact and the creature growled angrily. It was Rei, fighting for control. "Meddlesome child." The demon's claws began to glow a bright white before being rammed into the ground. Negative energy spread out within the ground throughout the surrounding area. And somewhere in the distance a deer fell over, dead.

[Creator]

Damon popped back into solid form, standing on what looked like a purple stone dish and skidding across the ground. "Rei, stop it! God dammit, don't you know when to let the big people talk?" He slowed to a stop, watching the demon. "Why do you put up with that? Why do you stay in the girl, I mean? Seems like a nuisance to me." The ramp vanished, releasing a burst of wind that rippled the grass in the clearing. (And gave the knife a decent upward boost.) Damon brought his fist forward, his entire arm exploding into smoke. The cloud extended, snaking through the air at rapid speed toward the demon. When it was close enough, Damon's fist sprung forth from the smoke, claws and all.

[[red].Raven]

I haven't much of a choice, you see." Grinning, the Shinigami spread its wings and used the burst of wind to rise off the ground. Powerful beats of the dragon-like appendages sent forth strong gusts of air, meant to distort any mist it passed. At the last moment the demon thrust upward to avoid the fis-... or not?

The demon actually appeared to lower itself so it would get hit. The screech of pain it released sounded more like Rei than the demon, but only because Rei felt the pain for what it was while the demon took it as hardly anything. Growling, the Shinigami swiped at the tree it had been pinned to to break it and then removed the claws. A white light surrounded its talons once more, only this time, the negative energy was sent through the air, straight for Damon, and used whatever substance it came in contact with to find the most direct route.

[Creator]

Damon's forearm hissed into smoke, as did the rest of his body as he attempted to escape. The negative energy hit like a typhoon, rushing through him and blowing the smoke back. The stream of smoke that Damon had used to get his hand close to the demon had faded, since it wasn't part of his body, leaving only the cloud that Damon himself had become. It dispersed, rippling away into the wind as the energy finally passed.

A moment later, the mist was finally beginning to recollect. It swirled downward in a wide spiral, focusing down on one point in the clearing. A moment later Damon stood, though slightly different. As he looked up, his eyes seemed somewhat hollow. Nothing you could put your finger on, just a sort of visible hatred. His cape seemed to flow more now, despite any lack of wind, it simply gushed downward as smoke and faded against the ground. He laughed. "Well damn, that hurt like hell," he said. "But I wouldn't expect any less." A bolt of electricity connected his hand to the ground for an instant. "And I liked it."

[[red].Raven]

Crouching on all fours with its wings spread, the demon watched Damon with a sinister curiosity. Its attention went uncaring to the now crimson grass beneath it. Blood flowed steadily from the claw wounds, but ti didn't seem to care; after all, a Death God cannot die. Deep, demonic laughter erupted from the creature's jaws. "Oh, how much more we'd both enjoy it without the intrusive child." In another instant, it sprinted forward, first on all fours then upright. When close enough, it drew back one glowing hand and aimed a slice for Damon's chest.

[Creator]

Damon vanished in a blast of smoke, leaving only a knive, embedded in the ground. A split-second later, he shot down from above, having switched places with the knife from earlier. His hand streaked with electricity as he brought it forward, hoping to use the claws as conductors into the demon's body.

[[red].Raven]

A grin tugged at the demon's muzzle when the switch happened. The move hadn't been anticipated; Damon was clever. The claws made contact and another very human-like scream of pain resounded. 'Rei' went skidding to the ground, writhing and convulsing from the electricity. When it subsided, the Shinigami slowly rose onto all fours, its wings splayed out on the ground., and grinned at Damon. Its body tensed for a moment before the wings flapped once upward, not to bring flight; it looked more like a whipping gesture. Electricity shot outward horizontally, almost reaching the other side of the clearing.

[Creator]

Damon leapt up, but not high enough to avoid the shock, and absorbed a good jolt of electricity. He landed, a bit frazzled from the shock, but grinned. "Thank you," he said. "I've neglected the study of shifting plasma back into other forms. Now that I realize my fault, it can be corrected." He raised his arms, beginning to manipulate the air. "Hold onto your hat, my friend, you're in for a doozy." A shell of purple stone formed around the demon, creating a sort of egg around Rei, and grew rapidly thicker. He was already dashing away into the forest, getting a good distance between them before continuing. The amount of stone was increasing by the second, now pushing over five tons of weight surrounding the demon. It even pushed underground, the soil melting away as the lump of matter expanded to create a sphere. It was now passing the two ton mark, his previous stopping point.
'Gotta think fast... something... something...'

The lump of purple stone stopped at the twenty ton mark, leaving Damon without much strength. He had put more distance between the demon's casing and himself, now watching it from what would have been a safe distance last time. But last time was an accident, and this one was an all-out attack.
'Looks like I screwed myself over yet again,' he thought. 'Oh well.'
He released the air within, confining the amount of pressure that had leveled a large section of forest into the relatively small space. A moment later he let go of the outer shell, unable to hold on.
The air exploded outward in a concussive wave, sending the closer trees flipping and splintered into the sky. The air tore through the forest, uprooting more trees and destroying those left in the ground. Unfortunately, it didn't slow much before it got to Damon, and sent him into the air like so many of the trees, flying into the sky without much ability to resist. He could only hope the immense pressure had taken a toll on the demon as well.

[[red].Raven]

When the shell encased the Shinigami, it laughed first and then began to brutally massacre the inner walls. But it couldn't break through, which annoyed it. It released an angry yell, but before it could do much else it began to struggled with some unseen enemy. An ear-splitting scream could be heard directly following the large explosion, and when the dust settled, the Shinigami was gone. In it's place, was Rei. She was curled in a tight ball with a faint, golden light surrounding her. A soft moan escaped her and her hand inched upward to clasp her head. Everything seemed to hurt. Her bleeding stomach, shocked body, and whatever that explosion left in its wake.

With labored breathing, Rei rolled onto her hands and knees, managing to look around. 'Where's... Damon...?' It didn't take long to spot him in the air. 'Oh my God...' Standing, it was evident that Rei, wasn't entirely Rei at the moment. She had remembered the incantation, and the power she had as a result was evident. Feathery golden wings made purely of golden light wisped behind her, and her eyes were made of the same light. The dazed girl's mind raced. 'He tried to hurt me... but I never wanted him dead... I warned him...he didn't listen...' Rei sighed weakly and desperately. '...but I won't just let him die' Without another thought, Rei pushed form the ground and took flight; her wings spread, but didn't flap. She reached Damon and fell with him; the demon had taken most of the damage, but she still felt utterly beaten. "I hate you..." Her voice cracked as though she were crying.

Outstretching both arms, the light surrounded Damon as well. Then Rei grasped Damon's arm. She was too weak to lift all the weight, but she was able to slow the decent. At the last moment, the light all but disappeared, leaving room for nothing more than a free fall for the last few meters.

(('Cause I felt like it, that's why ))